JoJo: Stardust Crusaders Spoiler-Free Review

An absolutely amazing, action packed, and highly well written addition to the JoJo franchise.

Review

If you thought Dio Brando was dead, think again. He’s awakened from his hundred year hiatus and, with a new body. Surprise, surprise, Dio has successfully transplanted his head onto the body of Jonathan, and along with it, awakened an ability known as “Stand”. Because of this, those carrying the blood of the Joestars have also “awakened” this ability. Unfortunately for Joutarou Kuujou, his mother cannot handle the power of her stand and will soon die because of it. Joutarou, along with his grandfather Joseph must form the ultimate team to defeat Dio before it’s too late.

With the introduction of Stands, it brought a whole new dynamic to the standard and sometimes mundane Hamon fights we saw in the previous two parts. Initially, I didn’t like it. I thought the concept of two men punching each other with their own two fists sounded far manlier than using these new Stand abilities where the user does nothing but literally stand on one spot the entire fight. Oh, how I was severely and utterly mistaken. These stands not only brought a whole new dynamic into the action, but also allowed for some amazing strategy and unpredictability to the new up and coming fights. It just feels so damn unique, original and refreshing.

You will find that this part is completely action packed, with far bigger and grander casts and personalities. “How will Joutarou get out of this situation?”, “How the hell are they going to beat this Stand?”, “How does this Stand work?”, and “Can this Stand counter that Stand?” are the questions you’re going to be asking yourself every episode. The costume designs and art style also took a massive step up with Joutarou’s iconic school uniform many other memorable outfits and hairstyles. The series is also undeniably hilarious with Joutarou’s iconic catch phrase “Yare Yare Daze” and Polnareff’s hilarious goofy and naive personality. Hard-hitting emotional moments feel very earned because the series manages to build such intricate relationships through the majority of the runtime. There are a lot of things this part does right and one thing it doesn’t do is disappoint.

I rate this anime 10/10.

Recommendations: If you enjoyed this anime, I highly recommend watching Hunter x Hunter. Both series feature fights that rely heavily on tactics and power dynamics.